Food product slicers having circular slicer knives are commonly used in restaurant and grocery businesses, among others. It is common to provide a ring guard disposed about a portion of the knife cutting edge to protect the edge of the knife and it is preferred to have the ring guard mounted in a manner to prevent removal by the end user in order to assure the knife protecting function. Food product tends to be thrown off the rotating slicer knife onto the ring guard. U.S. Pat. No. 5,509,337 provides a slicer in which the ring guard is movable away from the plane of the knife cutting edge to facilitate cleaning. However, it would be desirable to provide a food product slicer that limits the need for cleaning the ring guard.